Environmental Issues Of Overfishing

The environmental issue that I am investigating and discussing is overfishing. Overfishing is a real problem in our modern society and there are a multitude of different perspectives that can be used to investigate the problem. One such way is anthropocentrism which believes that nature exists in order to serve human needs and that it’s value is measured by it’s usefulness to humans. Anthropocentrism views the world from a human centred perspective and believes that overfishing should only be controlled if it benefits humans; they view fish extrinsically for their value to humans. Another way to view overfishing is from a ecocentric viewpoint. Ecocentrism believes that all species are equal and that nature’s worth is not measured by it’s usefulness only to the human species. Ecocentrism view the world from a viewpoint which places the ecosphere as central in …show more content…
From their viewpoint fish, just like any other species, are important and even though humans need to consume food overconsumption leads to overfishing and can in the long term have disastrous consequences for everyone (Kortenkamp and Colleen). Overfishing is unnaturally altering the balance of nature and if humans cause species to go extinct this permanently alters the ecosystem and can have untold consequences. Our ecosystem is interrelated with all species, including humans, and causing one to go extinct has an effect on all species. Ecocentrism believes that just because other species cannot defend themselves they should not be disregarded; killing one species is akin to genocide however humans tend to assume themselves more important by cause of their thriftiness. In the end all species play a role like for example coral reefs which do countless functions such as filter nitrogen for fish and marine life. By causing species to go extinct we are murdering a part of the natural balanced ecosystem and causing one species not to be capable of completing its